


It Happened in a Flash

by Leen_PhoenixRae



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: CCPD, Central City, Demons, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:59:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4499859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leen_PhoenixRae/pseuds/Leen_PhoenixRae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dawn was in Central City following a trail a demon left behind. She thought working undercover as a reporter intern would make intel-gathering more easier, but it wasn’t her cover as an intern that got her the necessary intel she needed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Happened in a Flash

**Author's Note:**

> **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own either _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ or _The Flash_. I only lay claim to the story plot idea for this fic.
> 
> **WARNING (if any):** AU timeline for _The Flash_ & BtVS, but definitely post-S7 of BtVS

DAWN ARRIVED IN CENTRAL CITY ARMED WITH her vast knowledge in demonology, slayerology and a bit of Wicca magic to help her out of some pretty tight situations in case the need arose. She was in Central City working undercover to find out more about a recent slew of murder that smelled of demon work. They couldn’t tell what kinda demon it was since the damn thing was very elusive, but with a series of body counts as breadcrumbs, per se, the Scoobies were able to track it down to here.

Dawn volunteered to go undercover in Central City Picture News as an intern so she could find out more information about these murders, and hopefully with enough information she gathered they can pinpoint exactly what kinda demon they were up against.

Dawn frequented Jitters after each shift at the newspaper. She heard from one of the newbie reporters, Iris West, that this place was where she often rendezvoused with The Flash, whoever that dude was. She grabbed a seat on one of the high round tables and placed her huge mug of steaming hot coffee in front of her. She pulled out her laptop from her shoulder bag and set it up on the table. She proceeded to connect to the cafe’s WiFi signal so she could Skype with Buffy and give them a status update.

Aside from finding out who the man behind the red streak was, Dawn was also doing recon work on a possible demon attacks. CCPD was keeping a lid on it since the victims were found under unusual circumstances. Her cover as a newspaper intern allows Dawn to hear first-hand possible breaking news stories before it goes public. She also got a nifty plastic ID badge allowing her access to certain places no average Joe would be allowed access to unless they were members of the press like her at the moment.

Dawn was checking her text messages while she waited to be connected to the WiFi when she received some unexpected company at her table. When she looked up from checking her phone she found Iris standing across from her and beside her stood a cute, boyish looking dark haired guy.

“Hey Dawn,” Iris greeted.

“Hey Iris,” Dawn acknowledged her co-worker, but her eyes kept on straying on her companion who seemed uneasy standing there.

“This is Barry,” Iris quickly introduced when she noticed Dawn checking him out. Iris gave the dark haired guy a nudge, prompting him to say something.

“H-hi,” Barry smiled, a hint of a dimple appearing on the corner of his mouth.

“Hi,” Dawn returned his greeting.

“Barry works for CCPD,” Iris said.

“Oh?” Dawn cocked a brow and looked back and forth between Iris and Barry before resting her gaze on Barry, “Are you a cop then?”

“No. I’m a forensic scientist,” Barry explained.

“Hmm, kinda like those CSI guys on that long-running TV series,” Dawn commented.

“Exactly like those guys,” Barry corrected.

A light bulb lit up over Dawn’s head after Barry confirmed what he does for a living. Knowing someone who is a CSI might help her get more intel on those hush-hush crime report CCPD wasn’t releasing to the public.

“Cool,” Dawn enthused, her full attention now focussed on Barry and completely forgot that Iris was still hovering at her table.

# # # # #

BARRY HATED IT WHEN Iris tries to set him up on a date with one of her friends or co-workers. He knew she only wanted what was good for him, but dating others when he was secretly pining for her doesn’t have an appeal to him.

He thought Iris had something really important she wanted to tell him that was why she asked him to meet her here at Jitters. He should’ve known what she was up to when she wouldn’t shut up about the new intern she was working with at the newspaper; Iris decided to play cupid once again and tried to hook him up with the pretty brunette with big blue eyes seated at one of the side window tables inside Jitters. He already know her name since Iris wouldn’t shut up about her whenever they see each other. One would think Iris has a crush on the intern the way she talked about her non-stop, but now Barry figured out why: Dawn was Iris’ latest possible date-material for him.

“So Barry, as a CSI, you get to be the first on every crime scene, right?” Dawn seemed intrigued about his line of work. Ever since she found out what he does for a living she has bombarded him with questions pertaining to his line of work. If it hadn’t been for her chosen career path Barry would think her questioning him about some of the goriest crime scenes he was unfortunate enough to process was odd, but Dawn was a budding reporter with a knack for crime stories.

“Well the medical examiner is there as well to check on the body or bodies if there is one.”

“Any interesting crime scenes you’ve investigated recently?”

Iris has long since excused herself from their table once Dawn started peppering him with questions. Dawn invited him to take the seat across from hers and closed her laptop.

“What do you mean by interesting?”

“I mean, gory, bloody, gives-you-nightmares kind,” Dawn sounded very nonchalant as she listed her parameters for what she deemed was ‘interesting’ as far as crime scenes were concerned.

“Homicide crime scenes are often like that,” he answered.

“You work homicide then?”

“W-why the interest?” Barry couldn’t help himself from asking. It was cute that she has shown interest in what he does, but he couldn’t help but feel her questions were leading up to something.

“I am an intern at a newspaper, duh,” Dawn deadpanned. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her midriff. “I’m also working on a paper that needs to be submitted to my professor once my internship is done,” she explained.

“What’s your paper about?”

“Interesting homicide cases,” she answered without skipping a beat.

Dawn was getting nervous treading this type of water with Iris’ friend. She needed a fast way to get more intel on this possible demon’s crime spree and Iris West served it to her on a damn silver platter with all the necessary trimmings to boot.

“Why would you want to write about those?”

“Because it’s less boring than the usual B-and-E’s,” She sounded bored when she mentioned the most common news stories handed to newbies or interns at the newspaper. “Look,” Dawn leaned forward and beckoned for Barry to lean in closer as well, “I won’t write specifics to the case in my paper, but I need a few interesting case studies to write about and show my writing prowess to my professor.”

Barry seemed conflicted with her request. He understood where she was coming from. Iris went through what she was going through right now before Iris landed that job at Central City Picture News. But Dawn’s case study subject was a bit odd for someone who looks like she’d faint at the sight of blood. Besides, unless Dawn was studying to become a forensic scientist, he can’t have her shadowing him at every homicide crime scene he was assigned to.

# # # # #

DAWN WAS SITTING BESIDE BARRY inside his lab at CCPD going over his latest crime scene photos. She was a bit bummed that she couldn’t actually go with him when he got called to process a recent homicide case, but Barry explained to her that unless she wanted to become a CSI, he can’t have a member of the media cross over the yellow tape the police setup to keep everyone out.

Based on the ravaged remains of a woman in her late twenties or early thirties, Dawn was able to ascertain that this crime involved the demon she was sent to track down here and do recon work on. And thanks to the numerous crime scene photos Barry took, she was able to make copies and send it back to Buffy and company to help figure out what kinda demon they were hunting for.

“Are you sure these photos don’t make you feel squeamish?” Barry was impressed at Dawn’s high tolerance after he showed her the first few photos he took of the crime scene he was called in to process. He was even nice to her and showed her the less gory photos he initially took, but Dawn demanded to see all of his crime scene photos – even the goriest of them all – and used one of his tables to spread them out chronologically.

Dawn looked up from a photo she was examining and met Barry’s gaze. “Trust me, I’ve seen worst,” was her cryptic answer before returning her attention back to the photo.

Barry cocked an eyebrow at that odd response from her. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more to Dawn Summers than meets the eyes.

“Are there any other similar crimes to this one?” she asked after a while.

“What do you mean?” Barry’s guard quickly went up when she asked that question. Of course there were other similar crime scenes where all the victims were female somewhere between the ages of twenty and thirty, abducted by an unknown psycho then start carving their stomachs to get their organs all while the victims were awake and without any anesthesia.

Dawn put down the photo she was examining and met Barry’s gaze once again. It was time to come clean to him if she wanted to get more information about this demon.

“I know CCPD is keeping a lid on these murders, Barry. And I’m here to help you solve this case before the body count piles up.”

“H-how did you know about that?”

“I have my sources.”

Barry cocked an eyebrow. He didn’t believe her bluff. But Dawn wasn’t bluffing. Based on the initial intel Andrew gathered that led her from Cleveland to across the country to Central City, this demon was leaving a trail of bodies – mostly females in their twenties – missing all their organs.

“Look, I’m tracking down this psycho that’s been killing all these females. I’ve been following this story since the first murder happened in Cleveland. All the victims are females in their early or late twenties, their stomachs carved and relieved off their organs,” Dawn watched Barry’s face register shock once she shared with him unreleased information about these homicide victims.

“H-how did—”

“You’re a smart man, Barry. I’m pretty sure you already figured out that I am not really an intern reporter,” Dawn cajoled.

Barry has had his suspicions, but she just confirmed his hunch that she wasn’t really a student writing a paper for her professor.

“Who do you work for then, ARGUS?” he questioned.

“The people I answer to aren’t based in the US,” she answered. Technically she wasn’t lying; the Watchers Council was based out of London, England although now Giles and Buffy are trying to re-establish the now defunct council and give it a more American home-base rather than an international one.

“Are you...” Barry paused and looked around him to make sure it was just the two of them inside his lab and no one else before continuing, “...a spy?” He even dropped his voice to a stage whisper when he asked her that question.

Dawn couldn’t help herself and threw her head backwards and laughed.

“You’re cute,” she commented then returned to what she was doing.

Barry was taken aback by the backhanded compliment. He was flattered that somebody other than Iris finds him cute and actually sounded like they meant it when they said it to his face, but he was curious to know if Dawn was someone he could trust or if the Flash should put her on the to-be-watched list.

“Trust your gut, Barry,” Dawn cajoled him without bothering to look up from the pictures she laid out on the table. “I know your gut’s telling you that I’m one of the good guys who is really only after helping you stop this murderer from killing any more innocent women.”

She was good at sounding genuine. Also, she was right. Barry’s gut was telling him Dawn was one of the good guys. He just hoped he doesn’t get into trouble with Joe or the captain if ever they find out he shared sensitive information with an outsider.

# # # # #

DAWN AND BARRY FIGURED OUT THE demon’s pattern after Barry relented and showed her other crime scene photos involving the other victims the demon murdered so far in Starling City. Dawn matched it with the other intel the other Potentials gathered while working undercover following the demon’s trail and it helped them predict who the next target would be.

Barry was a bit skeptic when she shared her intel with him. He didn’t want to alert his detective father-figure and the captain of the CCPD about an impending attack by their murderer based on a hunch that he worked out with a woman pretending to be an intern for the local newspaper.

“If you’re not sure you want to put your career on the line, then act as my backup and let my team handle this psycho before it attacks again,” Dawn offered. She already called Buffy once they figured out the possible next target; Buffy dispatched a couple of the more senior Potentials along with Faith to come to Central City.

“Your team?” Barry sounded incredulous. He still doesn’t know exactly who Dawn works for, but she sure does a good job of keeping up appearances by pretending to be a news reporter intern at the newspaper.

“Yes, my team,” Dawn confirmed. “Just...just stay here and be my backup. I’ll call you when it’s done and the CCPD don’t even need to be involved. We’ll take care of it.”

“Take care how exactly?”

Dawn didn’t given him a verbal response. Barry gathered his own conclusion based on her silence. He didn’t like it, but he has worked alongside Dawn long enough (almost a week actually since they were first introduced by Iris) to know that she can be stubborn and set in her ways. There was no way he can make her change her mind especially if she knew in her gut she was right.

“Alright, I’ll be your backup,” Barry agreed, but he’d be damned if he’ll stay here in his lab waiting to hear from her. As soon as Dawn left the lab he dashed out to STAR Labs and enlisted the help of Cisco and Caitlin. Using modern technology Cisco was able to ping Dawn’s cell phone signal and Barry, now dressed up as the Flash, followed her to where she was going to rendezvous with her team.

# # # # #

DAWN, FAITH AND THE THREE SENIOR POTENTIALS that came with the second oldest living slayer were facing off against one nasty giant of a carnivorous demon who gets off feeding on young female entrails. Right now the demon was being driven crazy by the scent of the four out of the five females battling it; it wasn’t to rip Dawn and the Potentials’ stomachs out and feast on their innards, but none of them were giving it the satisfaction it needs.

“Don’t let it slice you!” Faith yelled to the Potentials.

“Of course I won’t! This shirt will already cost me an arm and a leg to get cleaned after this!” Dawn complained, dodging one hefty arm with sharp ridges protruding from the sides.

“That’s how it incapacitates its victims. Those claws and sharp pointy things have poison,” she informed her.

“What?” Dawn wasn’t completely briefed by this demon they were up against. They were running out of time so she marched in to this battle fully unaware of the dangers their opponent posed. And her momentary distraction was enough for the demon to attack her and send her flying backwards.

“Dawn!” Faith called in alarm, but she was kept from rescuing the brunette when the demon’s tail kept on blocking her way.

A whoosh of wind that sent everything burst out flying when a streak of red rushed past Faith. She caught the red streak headed towards a flying Dawn and actually caught her before Dawn’s body made contact with the concrete wall.

Barry pushed himself to run as fast as he could the moment he arrived at the scene where Cisco last pinged Dawn’s cell phone. He was momentarily rendered dumbstruck when he saw what Dawn and four other females were fighting against. Whatever it was wasn’t meta for sure, and he heard the other dark haired female who seemed to be the leader say something about poisonous claws. He didn’t have time to make sense of what they were talking about once he saw Dawn flying away from the monster they were fighting. He acted on impulse and dashed to save her before she made contact with that wall.

“Are you okay?” Barry asked forgetting to disguise his voice in his worry for Dawn’s safety.

Dawn looked a bit winded, but she smiled and met his gaze. “Thanks to you, I am. You’re an awesome backup, Barry,” she smiled.

Barry’s eyes widened behind his mask. “H-how—”

Dawn gave him a cheeky grin, “Sources.”


End file.
